


All About Family

by IDMIDray



Category: RWBY
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:55:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21661795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IDMIDray/pseuds/IDMIDray
Summary: Qrow Branwen has never been sure of anything, preferring to follow the lead of others. When he finds himself without direction what can he do but try to adapt to the domestic life Taiyang had created. Cue reminiscing, a lot of self loathing and Taiyang try to convince Qrow to settle down for real, with someone that can make him happy.I suck at summaries, all I can promise is that I have tried to stay faithful to the characters in RWBY. Constructive criticism is welcome.This work wouldn't have been possible without the encouragement of Fairy-anon-godmother (Tumblr), and LacePendragon, to which I must give extra thanks for inspiring me with wonderful stories about my beloved Qrow Branwen and his dork of a boyfriend/husband James Ironwood.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/James Ironwood, Raven Branwen/Taiyang Xiao Long, Summer Rose/Taiyang Xiao Long
Comments: 16
Kudos: 43





	1. Twins

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I should mention that I like to do a lot of build up, I promise that this is in fact an IronQrow story. This story does include a time skip, which I will make mention of and a lot of flashbacks. You have officially been warned. I hope you enjoy this story.  
> Chapter 1 word count: 1,467

Qrow had never been sure of anything in his life, preferring to follow the lead of others, it made it easier that way. Raven, being who he predominately followed, he never minded though. Raven had always been so smart, and so careful. Careful to love, careful to trust. Qrow had wanted to be like his sister, but he wasn’t, and it had taken years for him to accept that fact. Growing up, being raised by the bandit tribe, now called the Branwen tribe after Raven took over, he had learned years of mistrust, of people, places, everything he could have trust issues with, chances are, he did. He supposed, looking back on it, that that explains why Raven had returned to the tribe and he chose to go a more nomadic route, never being able to fully settle down anywhere. Sure, he could crash at the Xiao-long-Rose cottage, and he had, several times in fact, but he could never bring himself to stay long term. He had thought, no hoped, that Raven could settle down more easily, having found herself a loving little nest, she had lasted quite a few years, but she hadn’t been able to take it after all. Qrow had tried to blame her, be angry with her, to feel anything but guilt and sympathy towards her for leaving happiness behind, but he couldn’t. Raven hadn’t been able to grow out of the bandit tribe anymore than he had. Qrow should’ve realized that his sister was struggling, he was her twin after all, but he had been, and still is, struggling to stay afloat himself.

He sighed and took a drink from his flask. Today was Yang’s birthday and he had to deal, once again, with her hopeful looks, and longing gazes at the door, waiting for a mother who was never coming back. He felt tremendous guilt, guilt towards both her and her father, his former teammate before Taiyang had given that up in order to raise two daughters on his own. Summer having disappeared a year ago, two weeks after her daughter, Ruby’s birthday. He had tried to look for her, he was still trying to look for her if he was being honest with himself, but it was like she had disappeared off the face of Remnant. Ruby had also started looking at him with hope, but she was a smart kid, she knew Summer was gone. He ran a hand through his hair. He was going to try to make someone happy, be it Yang or Taiyang, he didn’t know. But he was about to come as close to the place he no longer called home, that he dared to. Long before Summer, Taiyang and Ozpin. He knew if he went back, he most likely wouldn’t want to leave, content to go back to following Raven. But Ozpin had given him a purpose and he was determined to follow through on that.

He took out his scroll, dialing a number that he hoped still belonged to Raven, it wouldn’t be the first time she changed numbers, preferring to contact him first. It went to voicemail, somehow, he had expected that. She never did answer his calls when he called first. It didn’t help that she was mad at him for not going back to the tribe with her, upset that he wasn’t following her blindly anymore. Which wasn’t fair to him, he knew that, but he could recall that conversation. How upset she had gotten with him. The breaks in the careful façade she had put into place. They had only ever had each other; she couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t go back, and he couldn’t understand why she had wanted to. It had been weird for the both of them, to part like that, but regardless, neither one of them could go long without seeing each other every once and awhile, they were twins, family despite the separate directions they had taken. He typed out a message, a very short one, it was all he could do, his nerves getting the better of him.

He had gotten closer to his destination, taking another drink from his flask, letting the liquor burn its way down this throat. ‘Rae, meet me at the pub.’ He had sent to her, knowing she would know what pub he meant. The only pub near the tribe, where they had first learned how to steal and gamble. A pub, for all intents and purposes, was a bandit hideout. He was heading into the lion’s den, all to once again try to piece together a broken family. A futile attempt if ever he knew one, but he couldn’t not try, the guilt would consume him if he didn’t try. He entered the run-down pub, how this place was still thriving he never could figure out. He passed the shady looking people, hailed down a bartender, grabbed the largest and strongest ale before heading for his usual spot, the privacy of the upper back corner. He knew the chances were high that Raven wouldn’t show, forcing him to either enter the tribe or give up, returning with his tail between his legs, to look at the three faces of people he cared about, their hidden hurt, hopeful faces. He knew now, what Raven and Summer had had to deal with, Qrow had been drinking long before entering the academy, somehow, he suspected part of the reason Raven agreed to learn how to kill huntsmen was to get Qrow away from the alcohol. It hadn’t worked, his drinking and self-loathing had only gotten worse with age, and back as a teenager, he had found several ways to get alcohol in his system. None of them legal. Raven had had to take care of him, which caused Summer to take care of the both of them. It’s no wonder that they both walked away. ‘No,’ he stopped himself, ‘Summer had been happy, she wouldn’t have willingly walked away from her daughters.’ He thought to himself as he flagged down another giant mug of alcohol.

He could feel the portal before he saw it. Raven had come after all; he allowed a small smile. Seeing Raven, despite everything that had happened, despite their differences, arguably their similarities, always made him happy. Once upon a time, she had felt the same way.

“Qrow.” His sister’s voice said from behind him, Qrow lifted his mug in response. A sigh, before Raven sat down across from him. She looked tired, but there was still that fiery confidence she always had below the surface.

“Raven.” He said, suddenly unsure as to what to do now that Raven had arrived. Raven, as always, knew exactly what to do.

“I’m not going Qrow.” She said, quietly, looking with disdain, as a third mug slid across the table, apparently Qrow had hailed down another drink, watched as Qrow caught the mug with the practiced ease only an alcoholic could manage.

“It’s your kid’s eleventh Raven.” He said, downing the contents before continuing, “She’s grown a lot, she wants to see you. It’s been three years Raven.”

Raven glared at him, eyes shining with that fiery temper that Qrow feared. “She doesn’t want to see me, how could she? I’m the mother who abandoned her, that’s all I’ll ever be to her now.”

Qrow signaled for another mug. “I’m the one who has to see her face fall every time I come back empty handed.”

Raven snorted, “Like you could be so observant, you’re always drinking like there’s no tomorrow.” She was deflecting, they both knew it, they knew each other so well.

Qrow, midway between draining his fourth mug, glared at her, god they could be such twins at times, “I am drinking like there’s no tomorrow Raven.” Part of the reason being his depression and anxiety, he knew self-medicating wasn’t the answer but hey, he wasn’t the smartest, that was Raven, another part was to drown out the guilt and regrets of the past and another part, the most important one. Was to keep his semblance at bay, he had never quite managed to get control over his semblance. Leading him to prefer the bliss his drinking gave him.

Raven’s eyes softened, “Qrow… I’m sorry.” As to why she was sorry, he would never know. Sorry because he had to deal with the fallout of her decision to leave, sorry she wouldn’t, no couldn’t see her family, or sorry because she could no longer be his support system. She had opened her portal and disappeared, preferring to retreat than deal with family affairs. ‘Typical’ Qrow thought as he downed what was left, leaving some money knowing full well it wouldn’t remain there. ‘Damn bandits.’ Qrow thought before he left the pub and headed to the cottage.


	2. Family Resemblance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Qrow discovers how thick blood runs between family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay look, I promise, this is a story about Ironqrow. I just really, really love backstory and having the story be built up in order to tie things up nicely. As it is, please enjoy this chapter about a small family. Comments are much appreciated.

To say he was surprised was a bit of an understatement. He had arrived at the Xiao-Long-Rose cottage less than an hour ago, he was expecting to see those hopeful faces fall as disappointment set in, but what he got instead, he wasn’t sure what was worse. Taiyang seemed to be the same, more or less, but Yang, seemed to have replaced hope, bypassed disappointment and gone straight to anger. Her face and entire being was laden with resignation and anger. It seemed, if Qrow was being honest, that her face reminded him too much of Raven, it took Qrow by surprise. Taiyang must have agreed with his assumption for he grabbed Qrow’s hand and beckoned him to follow him, leaving Yang to follow their movements with her eyes, something that was such a Raven thing to do. Qrow had thought as he turned to look back at her one more time before entering the kitchen. 

“She’s been like that since she woke up.” He said, looking sheepish. “I’m not entirely sure why.” 

‘How do you not know why? It’s because of Raven.’ Qrow thought, instead he shrugged, responded with a bit of truth laden with sarcasm, “She is a girl.” 

Taiyang’s response was to punch his shoulder, Qrow winced. “What? It’s the truth, Tai, Raven was like that around her age, took me awhile to realize she wasn’t angry at anything in particular. Emotions and… well you know…” He finished, quite lamely if he did say so himself, he ran a hand through his hair. 

An action mirrored by Taiyang, “Qrow, she’s eleven.” 

Qrow found himself shrugging once again, “I’m just saying, although Raven never quite grew out of that phase...” 

Taiyang sighed, quite loudly and ludicrously at that, “I’m going to have to give her the speech earlier than I anticipated, aren’t I?” 

Qrow snorted, “Which speech would that be? The Sex speech or the lady bits speech?” Qrow said, mockingly, knowing Taiyang still couldn’t bring himself to say vagina or Hell, even boobs. Taiyang punched his shoulder again, noticeably harder, leading Qrow to rub his arm and feign being hurt. “You got one hell of a left hook you know.” 

Taiyang, for his part, was looking really embarrassed. “I don’t even know how to begin with that conversation.” He admitted, “I had hoped Rae, or… Summer would have been around to help with that. Raising two daughters without a woman around for topics like these, it’s hard Qrow.” 

Qrow sympathized, he really did, but that didn’t stop him from responding like a shithead. It was how he dealt with uncomfortable topics, sober or drunk off his ass, which he happened to be the latter of. “This is why I’m never getting married. I don’t know shit about child rearing.” 

Taiyang rolled his eyes, “You just wait, the right one will come along eventually.” 

Qrow put his hands in his pockets. “I’ll pass, too much effort.” To be honest, he was afraid of commitment, as it turned out, he wasn’t the only twin to be afraid. He also had his semblance to contend with. Until he figured that out, he was going to be single, bitter and lonely for a long time. 

Taiyang patted his shoulder in mock sympathy. “Trust me, when it happens, it’s like a tornado, you can’t slow it down or stop it. You just got to hold on tight and enjoy it while it lasts.”

Ignoring Taiyang’s apparent love for deadly disasters, Qrow had a feeling he didn’t say that just for his sake. “Rae loves you, you know that, Tai.” He said quietly. 

Taiyang smiled sadly, “I know, she wouldn’t have married me if she hadn’t.” They’d been through this conversation a million times in the past three years. 

Qrow sighed, he hated having to cheer up someone who was always supposed to be cheery. “She wouldn’t have let you get with Summer if she hadn’t.” This was the truth too. Raven wasn’t possessive per say, but once she cared for something too deeply, her semblance formed a permanent connection to them. Allowing her to be able to keep tabs on them without getting too close. As far as Qrow knew, she had formed connections with himself, Tai and her daughter. He often wondered if she had a connection to Summer, but if she had, she would have said something, at least to him about her whereabouts or if she was even alive. 

Taiyang’s smile got brighter. “I miss my girls, but they left me with two beautiful daughters.” His face fell again. “Who are rapidly approaching puberty. I am so out of my league here.” 

Qrow laughed, “Get Glynda to have the speeches with them?” His joking suggestion fell on deaf ears as Ruby suddenly ran into his knees. 

“Uncle Qrow!” She shouted, somehow, she always seemed to be happy to see him. “It’s been forever and a half since I’ve seen you!” 

Qrow ran a hand through her hair. “Pipsqueak, it’s only been a month. You know I have two jobs, right?” Two jobs he had no idea how he had gotten let alone kept. His drinking had taken another turn for the worse once Summer disappeared. Guilt and blaming himself over this little family, he felt he always had a drink in hand lately. 

“Did you see my mom?” That voice, that clear cutthroat voice, had to have belonged to Yang but again, it sounded like Raven. Yang was currently leaning against the wall with her arms crossed in front of her, an effort to protect herself against the worst. 

It seemed like everything froze, Ruby had stopped vibrating in excitement, his hand had stilled. His eyes, painfully slowly, moved to catch Yang’s eyes. Red eyes widened in shock and surprise met blazing lilac eyes. Yang looked every bit like her mother in this moment, the look of determination, her eyes blazing with barely hidden contempt, the way she carried herself, it just screamed Raven. Qrow swallowed, what did he say to this kid, what could he say. Qrow thought, ‘This is why he was no good.’ He couldn’t lie to her, but he found himself not being able to say the truth either. 

Taiyang spoke first, breaking through this tense scenario. He was their father, but he wasn’t any better at this than Qrow was apparently. “Yang, you know your mother has a special connection with your uncle Qrow.” 

The way her eyes, suddenly blazed with fury, they both knew that was the wrong thing to say. The frozen atmosphere, shattered completely, as it became too warm, much to warm, like they were suddenly placed in the middle of a blazing inferno. Qrow couldn’t help but be dragged into his memories, to days long passed, as he watched helplessly as Raven became angry, so angry. He hadn’t been able to help Raven and he sure as hell didn’t know how to help Yang. He felt lost, and he knew Taiyang felt that way too. 

“Why does he get to see her, and I can’t?” She responded, hurt and anger consuming her. ‘When had it started?’ he wondered, ‘when had Yang let the anger replace the hurt? When had Raven?’ She was too much like her mother and Qrow was as afraid of her as he was of Raven when she was like this. 

Wordlessly, Ruby stepped out of Qrow’s embrace, instead turning and moving determinedly towards her sister. She latched onto Yang’s waist, refusing to let go until long after the fire in her subsided in those eyes. It was like Summer never left; she had always been the glue to hold team STRQ together. Qrow risked a glance at Taiyang, saw how his head had lowered, bangs covering his eyes. He had only cried and tried to hide it, when Raven had left and again when Summer disappeared. On the nights he had resigned himself to the fact that they weren’t coming back he hadn’t tried to hide his tears, he sought out comfort from his daughters and from Qrow, when he was around. He could tell that Taiyang could also see and feel the resemblance between his daughters and their missing teammates. Qrow reached out a comforting hand to Taiyang. Which he took gratefully, squeezing his hand ever so slightly as if to say thank you. Qrow smiled, just a little. His heart felt heavy, his mind full of days that hurt to think about. He hated how Raven and Summer leaving had caused such a tear in this little family. A tear that would never fully be fixed. 

Taiyang moved suddenly, dropping Qrow’s hand as he rushed forward to hug his daughters. Suddenly Qrow felt out of place, intruding on a scene not meant for prying eyes. He swallowed, turned and fled out the back door. Hating himself for how similar to Raven he felt at that moment. Running because it hurt too much. He took out his flask, grateful he had thought to refill it before arriving, draining the contents in one go. He leaned against the wall of the house; eyes directed towards the sky. He watched the clouds go by as he allowed the voices of his past wash over him.  
'Qrow we need to do this for the tribe. For our family.' Raven. 

He had tried so hard to understand his twin, but as they got older, there was nothing they had in common besides their childhood. ‘Our parents abandoned us, the tribe took us in, why don’t you understand that?!’ She had started shouting, letting her emotions fuel her argument. Qrow had just taken her hurt, knowing full well that he couldn’t get through to her. Knowing full well that she couldn’t get through to him with her words, as much as they cut through to the bone. 

‘Tai will be better of without me. He has Summer. Summer can take care of anyone.’ He watched her walk away from him, from Tai and Yang, it was that image that kept him awake at nights some days. 

‘Raven… she isn’t coming back, is she?’ Tai had asked him, when Qrow had returned to the cottage empty handed. ‘It’s fine. She needs to deal with her issues on her own.’ Tai had lowered his head, letting his bangs hide his eyes. ‘I… should get Summer to watch Yang… while I try to talk to her.’ Qrow had stopped him there. Both Raven and Tai were upset in not in the right mental state to talk, but Qrow knew they needed to. Raven would come back on her own, when she was ready. Whenever that may be. 

‘Where’s mom?’ Yang had asked, Ruby nodding along beside her sister. Qrow still wasn’t sure if she meant Raven or if she meant Summer. Both were her mother in their own way. He remembered seeing Tai lower his head there too. Qrow hadn’t been able to help. He grabbed his flask and with a growl he remembered he already drank it dry. There was just so much guilt. 

He had failed to find Summer; he had failed to bring Raven home. He had failed in every aspect to this little family. He had thoughts, albeit fleeting ones, that life would have been easier if he had followed Raven back to the tribe. But he couldn’t go back to that place either. He didn’t belong in the tribe, he didn’t belong here, while Tai and his daughters tried to heal and mend their broken hearts. He found himself thinking, ‘How could Ruby be so happy to see him, how long would it be until she looked at him like her older sister had.’ His heart hurt, and he desperately wanted to drink himself into a stupor, but he couldn’t, he knew if he did, Yang would hate him even more. Tai would be disappointed in him. Ruby… Ruby would hate him too. He ran a hand through his hair and let his body slide to the ground. He put his arms around his knees and hugged himself, trying to focus on the positives in life. He had to, for his sake. He tried to think of those who had, at one point made him happy. Wanting their voices to play across his mind. 

‘That’s kind of you to say.’ Qrow blinked, that was his voice. His heart gave a pang of want, or desire, to hear more of what he would say but his mind didn’t fill in the blanks. Qrow sighed and glared at the sky. Life just was not fair. 

‘Qrow, it’s nice to meet you, my name is Summer Rose!’ a lower pitched voice than one would expect, sounded out, somehow making the entire world a shade brighter with just her voice. ‘Hey, my name is Taiyang Xiao-Long. Pleasure to meet you Qrow, and you, Raven.’ Tai hadn’t failed to hide his interest in Raven, even when they first met. The day they would be paired up. Needing something to distract him from the lingering thoughts on the person he had essentially let get away to the memories he was quite literally drowning in. He closed his eyes and let the memory play out in his mind. Meeting Summer and Tai had been a blessing in disguise. Qrow hadn’t known at the time when his luck would run out. 

\-- 

Raven walked with determination towards Beacon Academy, Qrow following behind his sister. “Raven, you really don’t need to walk that fast you know. I’m pretty sure the welcome ceremony or whatever won’t be happening until all the ships arrive.” Qrow said, as he had been watching the skies the entire walk to the academy. Only two ships had arrived, but he had seen a few others flying overhead. He had only tripped three times on the way, two of those he blamed on his semblance but the first one, was because he had been distracted by the ship flying overhead. 

Raven scoffed, “We need to get there to see who we have to deal with for the next four years. Teachers and students included.” 

Qrow sighed, he had never been one to accept all the murdering the tribe did, Raven had but she claimed it was only out of necessity. He hadn’t liked that they were going to learn how to be huntsmen just so they can kill them. “I’m sure we don’t need to speed walk there though. Seriously how can you walk that fast in heels.” 

Raven laughed, “Little brother, you should try heels some time, you’d understand the need to get to places fast just so you can rest sooner.” 

Qrow pulled out a small bottle of rum and took a drink, he was getting closer to the school and he didn’t need a pillar falling and killing someone the first day there. 

Raven glared at him, “Where did you get that?” 

Qrow smirked, “Where do you think? A pub or a liquor store, duh.” He waved the bottle in the air. 

Her glare deepened, “I thought I had taken them all from you.” 

He shrugged and downed the rest of it before Raven could take it from him. “You hadn’t.” 

She groaned and picked up the speed, causing Qrow to run after her or be left behind. 

After they reached the academy, Raven made quick work finding the room where the ceremony would take place. There were a few people there but not many. Qrow felt satisfied that he was right in the fact that they didn’t need to rush. His smug smirk in Raven’s direction was blatantly ignored as Raven chose her vantage point or her perch as Qrow liked to say. Qrow hopped up next to her and stretched his legs. “Damnit Raven, my legs are going to be sore now.” 

“Serves you right for not working out or at least stretching before we left this morning.” She said as her eyes scanned the room, only stopping twice, once on a blonde guy with an athletic build and a person with a giant red hood. Both seemed to be animatedly talking to each other. Raven continued her scan of the area, following teacher after teacher, as she made mental notes of certain traits or attributes. 

Qrow sat there and started picking his nails. He zoned out during the welcoming speeches, he only caught on to the teachers saying tomorrow they pick their teammates and that for tonight they were camping out here. Qrow rolled his eyes, his teammate was Raven, he laid down on the ground and passed out, he knew Raven would be up for a few more hours, so he would sleep until then so they could switch. It was how they made sure no threats arrived while they slept. Survival tactics and all that bullshit. 

The morning came far too fast for his liking, he groaned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Raven was stretching and flipping out her hair so it could look less like a bird’s nest. They had had a brief time to themselves to get food and get ready for the day. Qrow spent his free time polishing Harbinger, Raven spent the time observing the people. They had all started to socialize with each other and Raven and Qrow’s blank stares any time someone approached them had scared away any potential friendships. They weren’t here to make friends. 

Having everyone stand in a row while you tell them to prepare to jump was just child endangerment. But of course everyone seemed excited by the concept so he resigned himself to getting ready. 

The whole first person you make eye contact with is your partner for the next four years was stupid, Qrow thought. He made eye contact with Raven, she nodded towards him. They would just have to find each other first when they landed. 

To say this was his bad luck was an understatement. His landing strategy had ended up going horribly awry. He fell headfirst into a tree, spent a few minutes untangling his limbs from the tree’s branches before falling onto the ground with a hard thud. He had grumbled and decided to wait there, on the ground, for Raven. If he moved now, his semblance would just do something else stupid. He heard giggling coming from his right and he started, it didn’t sound like Raven’s laugh but then again, he didn’t pay attention to her laugh, she rarely laughed unless it was at his expense. He looked to his right and came face to face with a pretty girl with black hair and silver eyes. She was also wearing a giant red hood. 

Qrow blinked and she smiled, “Are you alright?” She held out her hand for him to take. He just continued to stare at her, not sure on what to do now. What if this meant he ended up on a different team from Raven? 

“Did you hit your head too hard?” She asked, concern in her voice. 

He blinked again and sat up, not taking her offered hand. “I uh.” He said, not sure on what to say to this girl. It was rare to find someone who gave a damn about his well being.

She giggled again. “How about we find that relic first, then we can talk? Unless you wanted to waste time introducing yourself right now.” He nodded, grateful she seemed to understand that he couldn’t function properly until he processed what had just occurred, and how Raven and him were to proceed if they were separated. 

They encountered a few Ursa on the way to the relics, Qrow being careful not to let his semblance go haywire. This girl kicked ass though. He found that they worked well together, he covered short distance while she covered long distance. 

When they got to the clearing that housed the relics, Qrow saw Raven already there. His eyes lit up at seeing her, she smiled at him. Then she turned her attention back to the relics, trying to ignore the blonde guy that was standing on her left, clearly trying to flirt with her. Qrow sighed, ‘poor sap’ he thought, Raven wouldn’t fall for that. 

He approached Raven and they both grabbed the same relic. They both rolled their eyes at that. He heard a gasp from behind him, “Oh. My. God. Are you two twins?” an excited voice, “You two look like each other! It’s so cute!” The girl with silver eyes said, she was practically vibrating with excitement. 

Qrow and Raven made eye contact, Raven’s eyebrow rose. He shrugged in response and let go of the relic, spotting the same one across from it. He grabbed that one before anyone else could. 

Once they got back to the academy, the headmaster stood there in front of a holo screen. “Greetings, congratulations on finding your partners. Let us begin announcing the teams.” 

Qrow tuned the guy with the quiet monotone voice out, instead he opted for staring at the guy’s daring choice to go full white head of hair. 

“Summer Rose, Taiyang Xiao-Long, Raven Branwen, and Qrow Branwen.” Qrow started at the sound of his name, he slouched next to his sister. “Congratulations for picking the silver moon pieces. Your team will be known as team STRQ. With your team leader being Miss Summer Rose.” 

Raven frowned at that, she wanted to be the leader, Qrow knew. He just shrugged, relief that he would still be in the same team as his sister. 

“Qrow, it’s nice to meet you, my name is Summer Rose!” Summer all but shouted afterwards, clearly happy to be his partner for four years. 

Qrow blinked, allowing a slight smile to appear on his face. “Yeah… you too.” 

Taiyang stepped into his line of sight, hand-held out for him to shake, “Hey, my name is Taiyang Xiao-Long. Pleasure to meet you Qrow, and you, Raven.” He said, while taking a glance at Raven. Neither Raven nor Qrow made a move to shake their teammates hands. 

\-- 

He blinked away the memory, it had been an awkward and worrisome first day as team STRQ, he had been insanely worried they would be separated, and he cringed at how awkward he had been. Meeting new people had never been easy for him or for Raven and to their credit Tai and Summer never gave up, they were so invested in the team, that they had gotten close. Too close. Qrow thought with a pang. He blamed himself, he knew he shouldn’t, but he did. It was sometimes easier that way. He wondered why Summer had never been upset over having him for a partner, why Ruby seemed to be exactly like her. He worried that Ruby would grow to resent him, but even that irrational thought disappeared almost as soon as it had appeared. Ruby could never, would never. Just like his missing partner could never. 

‘Never,’ a small voice rang throughout his head. He vaguely placed that voice to belonging to someone he knew, a memory long past during one of his hardest times. ‘Never, I said never Qrow. I could never hate you. You mean too much to all of us.’ His mind located that memory before he could, having buried it deep in his head. He smiled sadly at his empty flask, allowing this memory to take over his senses. His heart feeling heavier and heavier. The nostalgia overwhelming him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't quite figured out how to show when the story is in the past versus the present so for now I divided it up with little dashes. Hopefully it isn't as confusing as I think it is. I also managed to double the length, I'm slowly getting back into the swing of writing. Any thoughts, criticisms or comments are appreciated. Also Taiyang is recently without a wife/lover so he still working out how to handle being a single father to two girls. I am under the impression that he is a good father, it can't be easy to be a sudden widow and divorcee and to find yourself in that position, when you shared the responsibilities of raising children. To have to adjust to being full time parent would be difficult, and of course Qrow is no help. I think if he had kids of his own he would be different but since at this stage in the game, he is still in full on self-resentment, head in a bottle mode and that isn't the way to be or become a parent.


	3. Tea Conversations with Taiyang

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After celebrating the remainder of Yang's birthday. Qrow reminisces about the good old days and Tai tries to help Qrow become happy.. again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, life gets busy sometimes.  
> Please enjoy, comments are much appreciated.

He was sixteen, having entered the academy a year or two earlier than most, somehow Raven had been smart enough to pass the huntsmen test, Qrow having copied most of the answers, he answered a fair few without her help, but he was never one for tests. They had been paired with a quiet but excitable girl and a blond-haired cheerful guy, being the odd man out became a running joke between the four. Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao-Long respectively. It had taken a few months, before Raven and Qrow had warmed up to them, Raven becoming increasingly attached to the idea of being with Taiyang. Qrow had rolled his eyes at that, sure he was good looking, but they were young still. Something Summer had had in common with him, she had always been committed to helping others and wanted to go on missions as soon as was physically possible. Qrow had been hesitant, Raven knew all about his semblance, could work with it during battle, but he had found he didn’t want to accidentally hurt the others in the field.

The day he told Summer and Taiyang; it was like a weight lifted off of his shoulders. But the fact remained that he still couldn’t control it, Raven had tried to get him to stop using alcohol as crutch, gotten him to stop drinking the night before their first mission. They were only first years so they had a licensed huntsmen coming along on the mission, but it was solely on them, to prove that they could do this, that they could work with each other. He remembered panicking over that fact through-out the night, sobriety making it that much harder, but he told himself he could do it. His anxieties causing things like his bed to collapse, he had groaned at that but kept laying there, resigned to lay there without becoming a bother to his team. He lay awake the entire night, thinking of all the ways things could go wrong, his breathing becoming erratic as the night progressed. He had tried taking deep breaths like one of his professors had showed them to do when they felt stressed out, but he wasn’t sure breathing deeper would apply to anxiety. At least it was taking his mind off of his racing thoughts, allowing him to think of how they had been training for months in order to lead up to this, that they could work together, and how they found that they liked working together.

That morning, the rest of the team awoke, Summer who had been so excited to get out there and kill some Grimm, Taiyang anxious but ready to get involved, Raven, who by definition, was not a morning person, looked murderous, which would prove to come in handy on the mission. Qrow on the other hand, hadn’t slept at all, plus the fact that he was without alcohol and he was somehow even more anxious than both the night before and how Taiyang seemed to also be anxious. The mission which had ended up being a success, by everyone’s definition but Qrow’s own. He had allowed his mind to continue its spiraling descent into his dark thoughts, the lack of sleep and alcohol which had certainly not helped at all. He had had a depressive moment, Qrow figured out years later, that had affected the team. Not entirely in all out negative way but it had seemed that way to a sixteen year old Qrow. 

The fight had been against an Ursa, was an interesting mission. Summer had taken a high position in order to use her sniper, Raven, Tai and Qrow being tasked with cornering it, and creating an opening for Summer to take the final shot. It was going well, until his semblance caused a tree to collapse just as Summer was about to shoot. The ursa, having taken that moment to charge at Taiyang, whose aura had been severely weakened prior to that moment. Raven having to use her semblance to get Taiyang out of the way. Summer was quick though, she had found another advantage point, shooting and successfully killing the damn thing. All while Qrow had froze, mentally berating himself for his semblance, which had led his mind to take him down that familiar dark path. He had started thinking how the team would be better off without him. Which led him, of course, to later drink his sorrows away. He remembered turning away from the team as they high-fived each other for getting the job done safely, he remembered seeing the look of concern flash over his teammates’ faces as he left them. Remembered how Raven had dragged his sorry drunk ass back to the dorms, all without saying a word. Which led to him laying on his bed, someone must’ve repaired it while he was gone, he had grabbed his pillow and clutched it to his body.

Raven had gone back out to grab some food, Qrow belatedly realizing he hadn’t eaten all day, Taiyang going to make a pot of tea. While Summer had knelt in front of him. “You guys would work better without me hindering you.” He mumbled to her.

Summer had smiled, such a sad soft smile, as she ran a hand through his hair. “Never” she had said.

Qrow had rolled his eyes, “I can’t get it under control, all it does is cause problems.”

Summer just knelt there, massaging his head as she let him ramble, let him spew his negative thoughts at her. It was a miracle that his semblance didn’t act up again, but then again, he was drunk, really drunk. “How can you sit there and be nice to me? Why don’t you hate me?” ‘like I hate myself?’ was the unspoken completed sentence.

Her hand stilled at that. “Never, I said never Qrow. I could never hate you. You mean too much to all of us.” Her hand resumed its massaging.

Qrow hadn’t believed her then, it was hard to, when so far down into his negativity. Raven had returned then, bringing comfort food, Taiyang right behind her, bringing the boiling hot pot of tea. Taiyang had forced him to sit upright, smoothly handing him a cup of tea while Summer took the place his head had just vacated. Taiyang sitting down on the other side, Raven taking her usual spot on the desk across from them. They had been a team, a family, Qrow realized, one year, it took one year for them to become so close. It had been the only time Qrow had felt like he had belonged, but he had ruined that, allowing his thoughts to dampen most of their time together.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the presence of a small warm hand grasping at his. He glanced down to see Ruby staring up at him. Her tiny hand squeezing his calloused larger one. He saw her smile, the same as Summer’s had been, his heart, already feeling heavy, felt even heavier at that. He missed Summer, he missed Raven. He missed team STRQ. He smiled back at her, she was her mother’s daughter after all, and he thought, ‘Taiyang was lucky to have some semblance of Raven and Summer left.’ 

“We are going to open presents and then eat dinner.” Ruby said, “Come and join us, Uncle Qrow!” She said, voice raising in excitement. Hand tightening its hold on his.

How had he ever thought Ruby would hate him, was beyond him. “Of course, Ruby, lead the way.”

When they entered the living room, Yang seemed to be in a better mood. She had hugged him when she first saw him, she was still attached to his side when he took a seat in the middle of the couch, with enough room to allow Ruby to take the other side, which she did with much enthusiasm. Taiyang started handing over presents. Qrow watched with a fond smile as his niece was becoming more and more animated with each present. 

After the last present was opened, she turned and looked expectantly at Qrow. Her eyes matching Taiyang’s happy and expressive ones as opposed to Raven’s fiery eyes. Qrow laughed and pulled out a small present. Qrow watched as Yang’s eyes lit up at the necklace, a purple pendant with a silver chain. He wasn’t sure if Yang was even interested in jewelry, but she seemed happy enough. “I saw it while in Atlas and thought of you. The gem matches your eyes.” He had gotten it as compensation for completing a job, he had suspected during that particular transaction that it hadn’t been a fair trade, but he hadn’t cared. Yang touched the pendant, eyes alight with wonder. “It’s pretty, Uncle Qrow.” She said as she handed it back to Qrow so he could help her put it on. 

After that, they moved into the kitchen to have dinner. Qrow found himself settling into the domestic life as easy as he always did when with Tai. Qrow started a conversation with Ruby, leading to some concerned looks from Taiyang, and so Qrow found himself laughing and whispering conspiratorially with Ruby, trying and hoping to convinced Taiyang that they were concocting a prank. Which, judging by Taiyang’s looks, he had believed the ruse and found it even more concerning that a grown man was really giving into an active nine year old’s imagination, but they wouldn’t be kids forever so anything to give them another moment of happiness. Qrow’s eyes sparkled mischievously at Tai, Tai groaned sincerely, hoping that Qrow wasn’t seriously going to include his youngest daughter in a prank war older than Ruby was. 

Ruby and Yang, having finished dinner first, wanted them to hurry on to cake and ice cream. Taiyang, forever a sucker to his daughters’ whims, obliged. Qrow didn’t have much of a sweet tooth so he finished eating his dinner while the trio ate cake and ice cream. He didn’t appreciate Tai whipping a piece of the cake at Qrow’s head however as he had zoned out and was therefore unable to dodge it. Qrow glared at him, as Tai laughed, “You’re teaching your kids bad manners Tai.” He grumbled as he went to wash the cake out of his hair.

Yang was laughing along with her father, Ruby however, “Yeah, Dad, total bad manners.” As she went for a second slice.

After everyone was full, they sat down and watched a movie, Yang’s choice as it was her birthday. Ruby fell asleep in Qrow’s lap, Yang was getting tired but as she insisted, she was a big girl now, she wanted to finish the movie. The movie ended as Yang yawned and stretched. Qrow picked up Ruby as Taiyang picked up Yang. He helped get the girls to the bedroom, stepping out so Taiyang could help them get ready for bed, getting pajamas and such out for them.

Qrow headed down to the living room and started picking up wrappers and popcorn bowls. Taiyang joining him a moment later, “Thanks” Taiyang said, “For staying, I know, earlier, that it was too much… for the both of us.”

Qrow sighed, “They’re kids, they don’t know what we know… but they are so like them, Tai, it was hard to watch it. How do you do that every day?” he asked.

Taiyang smiled, “It’s tough at times.” He admitted, “But I love watching them grow into their own women.”

Qrow nodded, “She’s the spitting image of her, but Yang is also so much like you, she has your carefree attitude for one.”

Taiyang laughed, “And Ruby is all Summer, but she’s also starting to act like you for some reason.”

Qrow’s mind took that to mean she was starting to feel depressed, so his eyebrow rose at that, “How do you figure?”

Taiyang’s smile never left his face, “Not like that, that’s all Summer. But she looks up to you, you know? I don’t think there’s a day that goes by when she isn’t talking about you.” He ran a hand through his hair, “She even wants to style her weapon after Harbinger and after Summer’s. But she had started picking up some of your mannerisms and habits. Like cheating at games, imitating your laugh, things like that. It’s cute.”

Qrow snorted, he had thought he heard her earlier, siding with him. “I don’t cheat at games; you just suck at them.” He was both honored and worried that such an impressionable young girl was looking to him for directions. With his mental state, he only hoped he could do a good job with her. “Wait, she wants to design a weapon?”

Taiyang nodded, “Both my girls want to be huntresses. Got to admit, I can appreciate my mother now. She never wanted to watch me become a huntsman.”

Qrow smirked, “They’ll be fine Tai. Are you sending them to Signal Academy? I can show them the ropes there.”

Taiyang sighed, “I was kind of hoping they would grow out of this phase but just yesterday I saw them drawing up pictures of what their weapons would be. I don’t think I’m getting out of this one. Besides, I also teach at Signal Qrow.”

Qrow rolled his eyes, “Let them be kids for a while, send them to me when they are old enough and let them decide if they want to continue on that path. It’s up to them what they want to do with their lives.” Completely ignoring Tai's last statement.

“You aren’t planning to teach my daughters how to fight are you?” Taiyang asked suspiciously.

Qrow shrugged, “Ruby did ask me during dinner if she could see Harbinger in its full form.”

“That’s what you two were talking about?”

“What did you think I was talking about? God, Tai, you have so little faith in me. I wouldn’t drag Ruby into one of my pranks. That takes too long to plan.” Qrow shoved his hands into his pockets but winked at Tai to make him doubt that.

“Are you going to show her? Before you leave again?” Taiyang asked.

Qrow shrugged again, “I guess I have to now.”

Taiyang nodded, “That guest room is yours, you know, whenever you want it.”

Qrow smiled, “I know.”

Taiyang grabbed his kettle, the same one Qrow had gotten him for his marriage to his sister. “Want some tea?”

“Sure, your tea is the only tea I like to drink.” He didn’t mean to make that sound suggestive, but it had and they both burst out laughing because of it.

“I’m still straight, Qrow.” He said after they finished laughing.

“And I’m over that crush, promise. It’s all barmaids and hot servers for me now anyways.” Qrow leaned against the table.

“You should seriously find someone though. It isn’t good to be alone all the time.” He said, back facing Qrow.

Qrow frowned, “You know why that isn’t a good idea.”

Taiyang shrugged, “The right person would understand. Trust me, your sister, Summer and I want you to be happy, Qrow you deserve to be happy.”

Qrow rolled his eyes, “My sister, and Summer, need to stop conspiring, they’ve been trying for years to find me someone. And you, Tai, you’re my best friend, stop using them as an excuse when we all know you were the matchmaker of the group.”

The kettle started whistling, “I’ll meet you in the living room, you staying until school starts again? Or are you going on more missions?”

Qrow shrugged, knowing full well he couldn’t see it. Taiyang had deflected and changed the subject. School started in two weeks and while Qrow wasn’t full time, he did teach a weapons designs class two times a week. He didn’t know yet if it would be the beginning of the week or the end of the week. The end of the week allowed him enough time for a long mission, the beginning of the week, meant he could do two or three short missions. He may not have a permanent home, but he did need the money. He plopped down on the couch, cursing out loud when a random glass of water fell off the table nearby.

Tai popped his head into the living room, “You okay?” he asked.

Qrow sighed and held up two shards of glass. “Broke a glass.” He mumbled.

“Oops, sorry, I forgot to put away the glass.” Taiyang said as he disappeared and reappeared with a towel and a broom and dustbin.

Qrow glared at him, “I know it’s my fault, but I’m blaming you for neglecting my simple needs.”

Taiyang laughed as they cleaned up the small mess together. “How are you doing by the way?”

Qrow sat back on the couch, he asked that every time he saw him, but even more so after he had taken Summer’s disappearance even harder than Taiyang had. “All things considered; I suppose okay.”

Taiyang hummed, “Summer wouldn’t have wanted you to blame yourself you know.”

“I know, but I couldn’t help it.” He sighed, “But really Tai, I’m doing okay.”

Taiyang looked at him, he didn’t believe him, he could see it in his face. “Then why don’t you just live here then? When you aren’t on missions that is. The girls would love that, and I wouldn’t mind the company. Two little kids and no adults around makes me go crazy sometimes.”

Qrow hesitated, he had truly thought about staying here, but the risk his semblance would do something stupid or dangerous was too great. “I-“

“Don’t say you can’t because of your semblance. If I thought it was dangerous, I wouldn’t let you sleep here with my daughters in the room next door. I know you will always have to keep your guard up and that causes a strain on you, but please. Just stay with us.”

Qrow looked up at the ceiling, “Okay.” He found himself saying, perhaps he could alleviate some of his guilt by staying with his brother in law and nieces.

Taiyang grinned, “Excellent, now that that’s settled, and we got you under a permanent roof. Let’s find you a significant other.”

Qrow’s head snapped back to stare at him open mouthed. “What?”

“It’s my lifelong wish to find you someone who can make you happy.”

“That’s a weird wish.” Qrow mumbled.

“Oh! I know, what about that guy we met during our second year?” Taiyang said, showing his excitement.

“What about the tea?” Qrow asked, in a poor attempt to deflect from Taiyang’s onslaught. The man could be relentless once he got started about relationships.

“Oh, crap. The tea!” Taiyang shouted as he ran from the room.

Qrow sighed, he thought back to second year. A smile on his face. ‘You must be Qrow Branwen from Beacon Academy.’ 

Qrow, at age seventeen, had wanted to enter the Vytal tournament with his team. He had broached the subject, late one evening after classes ended. “What do we think about the Vytal tournament?” he asked.

Summer looked up from her comfy spot, wrapped in Qrow’s blankets, on Qrow’s bed, using his pillows. “Oh? Is that this year?” she asked, leaning forward to grab Qrow’s snack. She had started becoming really close to Qrow lately, to the point of clinginess. Qrow had suspected that it was because of his increasingly negative thoughts.

Qrow halfheartedly glared at her, “That was my snack you know?” She shrugged in response, going back to snuggling in his blankets. “It’s in Atlas, and since I’ve never been, it could be interesting if we get through the elimination process at Beacon that is.”

Raven scoffed, “Team STRQ can beat all these losers twice over.” She still had a prejudice against huntsmen, anyone besides the three present.

“Rae, please, they may be opponents during the tournament, but they are still classmates of ours.” Taiyang responded.

Raven rolled his eyes, “You are too soft Taiyang.” She responded, going back to reading.

Qrow sighed, he wasn’t sure if they were interested or not. Both Raven and Summer noticed that Qrow seemed to be losing the confidence he had had coming into this conversation for they said, almost at the same time.

“It could be interesting, showing our superiority to the world.” Raven said, leaning against Tai’s shoulder.

“It sounds exciting, I’m all for it.” Summer said, happily ruffling Qrow’s hair.

Qrow rolled his eyes, “Then… we’ll sign up?” He asked.

“Hell yes, man, I need to see what the other schools have to offer.” Taiyang said putting an arm around Raven’s shoulder.

Qrow smiled, he would make a conscientious effort to reign in his semblance.

A few weeks later it was finalized that they, along with two other capable teams would be going to Atlas. Which, as it turned out, was a colder climate than he was used to. So, the four of them went into the city to shop, so they could dress appropriately.

Qrow had to be physically steered away from the liquor store, and the bar, and the club. “What’s the point of even coming here if I can’t get a drink?” He complained loudly.  
Summer giggled, “Silly, you need to get cold weather clothes, so you don’t freeze your feathers off.”

“You have been hanging out with Tai too long. I don’t have feathers, and I’m not a crow.” He responded, deadpan.

Raven snorted, “I don’t know, you’ve been collecting shiny things ever since we were young.”

“And you nest before you go to sleep.” Taiyang added.

Summer smirked, “You also walk like a crow.”

Qrow glared at the three of them, “The stuff I keep collecting seems to go missing almost immediately so who really is the klepto here?” He directed at Raven, who shrugged. “I get cold easily, and I like my blankets a certain way.” He directed at Taiyang. He turned to Summer, “And I do not walk like a crow.” He said as he shoved his hands further into his pockets and slouched forward before continuing to walk. The resounding giggling from behind him, made his ears flush. He ignored them as best as he could and continued to walk towards the store.

Neither Raven nor Qrow had any money so Summer and Taiyang got them each a jacket and a hat. Raven and Qrow, who had no problems with stealing, grabbed a pair of gloves for everybody.

Before long last they were on the way to Atlas, Qrow had drunk a shit ton before boarding, anything to keep his semblance in check until they landed safely, much to the disapproval of the trio. He shrugged, winced at the headache he had given himself; he was hungover but at least the plane wouldn’t crash.

He must have fallen asleep because when he woke up, they were just passing Atlas’ borders. “Look Qrow, it’s so shiny here.” Raven whispered in his ear, mockingly.

Qrow swatted at his sister, “Are you hoping I’ll collect some nice things for your collection?” He shot back at her.

She smirked at him, but before she could say anything, Summer jumped into his lap and leaned across Raven to glue herself to the window. “Ooooohhh it is so pretty here!” She shouted, successfully waking up Taiyang.

Taiyang blinked several times, looked at the scene in front of him, Summer essentially laying in the twins’ laps as she looked out the window, Qrow with his hands up in the air, Raven holding onto Summer lest she fall off. “Um, what did I miss here?”

Qrow looked at him, “I just woke up myself, Summer here has decided to throw personal space out the window.”

Summer stuck her tongue out at him before returning to viewing the scene ahead of her.

Qrow shifted and pushed Summer fully into Raven’s lap. “Okay rude.” She said in response before making herself more comfortable, much to the amusement of Tai and the pleasure of Raven.

Qrow put his hands behind his head, “Normally I wouldn’t mind but your knees were like making themselves at home with my thigh and it was getting uncomfortable.”

Somehow, in the span of two years, they had become comfortable with each other. Raven had taken to sleeping in Taiyang’s bed and while Qrow didn’t mind Summer hogging his bed during the day, he wasn’t comfortable sharing a bed, sleeping being the only time his guard was ever fully down.

They departed the plane and were shown their sleeping arrangements. All four of them were jealous over how extravagant Atlas Academy was. Even more jealous over how nice the dorms were. Qrow also felt very small here, like he was nothing more than a bug, intruding in some pristine kitchen, hoping to get a few crumbs for the hive. Atlas made him feel as poor as he was, and Qrow did not like that.

Summer collapsed on the first bed she saw, sighing contentedly. Raven sat down on the bed next to Summer’s. “I don’t think you need to worry about nesting little brother, these beds are really comfortable.” Raven said.

Qrow growled at her, “I don’t nest.” He stomped over to the next bed over and sat down. “Holy crap. I could die right now and be happy. Like I think this is the first time ever that I’ve been happy.”

Taiyang sat down on the remaining bed. “Well I was going to suggest going out and seeing what’s what but let’s take a nap, feigning jet lag and go out tomorrow.”

“Agreed.” Raven said as she pulled the blanket over her head.

Summer rolled over and sighed again, burying her face in her pillow.

Qrow laid back carefully and pulled the blanket over his chest.

Tai turned the lights off and stumbled back to his bed.

Qrow was the first one to wake up, he slipped out of the dorm without making a noise, and walked down the hall, he was hoping to come across a kitchen or vending machine even, so he could eat and grab food for the rest. He paused though, after he passed by an open door. It seemed to be the entrance to the training hall. Curiosity peaked, he walked down the hall and ran into two Atlas students talking to themselves.

“The Beacon academy students arrived today right?” A deep voice asked his fellow student.

“Correct, there are three teams total, although, team STRQ is it? Was curiously absent during the welcome ceremony.” A calm female voice responded.

Qrow stepped around the corner just as the two came into sight. He most of misjudged the distance as he ran directly into the guy’s chest. How was this guy taller than him? He looked up as he stepped back. “Sorry about that.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I got curious about your training rooms on the way to the kitchen.” He admitted, good lord this man was attractive.

A laugh, “You must be from Beacon, judging based on your attire.” That smooth deep voice responded. He glanced down at his scroll, the teams of Beacon flashing across at him. “Am I to assume you are a member of team STRQ?”

Qrow blinked, hands going to his pockets. “Yeah, I’m-“

“James, Glynda, come here please?” A strict voice said from the top of the stairs.

James turned sheepish, “Sorry, duty calls. It was nice to meet you.”

Glynda gave him a once over, “See you around.” She politely said as she joined James who had already turned around and was walking up the stairs.

Qrow blinked, again. Smirked and turned around, going in the opposite direction from the two. Sometimes he could pretend that he had good luck, even though his semblance had prevented an actual introduction from taking place. He went off in his quest for food. He only got turned around three times on his way to the kitchen. However, he got turned around four times on his way back to the dorm, this place was massive, and everything looked the same.

Once he opened the door, Summer nearly knocked the food out of his hands. “Where have you been?” She shouted in his face. “We were worried about you!”

Raven was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over her chest and Taiyang on his scroll. Qrow raised his eyebrow at them, “Raven could find me easier than anyone here could and I had my scroll with me.”

Taiyang raised his other hand, there was Qrow’s scroll, sitting innocently in his hand.

Qrow blinked. ‘Damn his semblance.’ He thought to himself. “Oh.”

“Oh? That’s all you have to say little brother?” Raven asked.

Qrow held his hands up in mock surrender. “I’m sorry. I was hungry.”

It was only then that the three noticed the food he was carrying, somehow not dropping any of it.

“I also got lost. A lot. This place is huge.” Qrow said as he walked further into the room.

“I bet it was all the shiny things that distracted you.” Raven sniggered as she took some snacks from Qrow.

Summer took a drink and some chips, Taiyang grabbed two drinks. Qrow set the rest of the food on the desk, grabbing a drink and a bag of chips himself.

Qrow rolled his eyes, “I did not grab anything shiny nor did I get distracted.”

Raven threw a cookie at him, “Whatever.”

Qrow caught the cookie and handed it to Summer, who took it with much eagerness.

It wasn’t until late afternoon the next day that Qrow would see James again. The team had gone out to get dinner, the Vytal festival not starting for another two weeks. He saw James first and felt his heart skip a beat. He hid behind his bowl of ramen, much to the amusement of the trio. “What are you doing, Qrow?” Summer asked.

Qrow shook his head, but James had caught sight of the team and had made his way over. “Hello, you must be the rest of team STRQ.” He glanced over the bowl of ramen, to see Qrow sliding further and further down. “And you must be Qrow Branwen from Beacon Academy.” He said with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta dah! James makes his arrival into the story!  
> Also... I kind of ship Summer and Qrow together... but more in like the best soul mate friend way. So don't worry. I won't deviate from the path of all that is good about Ironqrow, I just really love Team STRQ, poly STR and what I believe to be the fun dynamics Qrow has with the other members of team STRQ.  
> And while I know a lot of people don't think Team STRQ would enter the Vytal festival, I think they would. Ozpin would have already been thinking of recruiting them but I don't think he would've acted that soon, preferring to let them be kids a little bit longer. Also, if you think about, Qrow is a good spy but he is also a really famous huntsman. Tyrian recognized him as soon as he appeared so honestly, I think him being in the spotlight at that age was a good thing.  
> Please enjoy. :)


	4. Talk about love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Qrow reminisces about the past, and Ruby pesters him about Harbinger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoy! Sorry for the delay in uploading!  
> Comments and kudos are much appreciated and loved!

Qrow felt his face heat up, ‘was he blushing? Why did he have to say his name like that? More importantly why did he have to single him out at all?’ He thought as he tried to sink further down in the seat, unfortunately for him that meant quite literally falling off the stool.

He heard Raven snort, he looked up at his team and could see Taiyang grinning, oh he was going to get Hell from this. Only sweet Summer took pity on him, “Hi! My name is Summer Rose, the leader of team STRQ, and as you said, this is Qrow Branwen!” She said excitedly, eyes twinkling mischievously while she pointed her finger in his direction. Qrow, in turn, glared at her, ‘you traitor’ he thought, hoping his eyes conveyed his thoughts. She smiled and stretched, preparing herself to be the respectful leader Qrow knew she wasn’t.

James blinked, clearly confused at what he was witnessing, but to his credit, he recovered fast. “Yes, nice to meet you, Summer. My name is James Ironwood.” He glanced at the other two, he hesitated, “And you two are…”

Taiyang jumped in, with an easy smile, “Taiyang Xiao-Long, that’s Raven Branwen coincidently” he said, pointing his thumb in her direction, “The twin of Qrow, who evidently you already knew.”

Qrow groaned and glared up at him, he was not nearly drunk enough for this. “Would you like some help?” James asked him then causing Qrow’s eyes to widen as they trailed up the entire length of James’ body before finally making eye contact with the man. James was smiling, mercifully choosing not to react to his blatant eye roaming, he had held out his hand for Qrow to use it for leverage. Qrow blinked, already mentally preparing himself for the never-ending teasing that was to come from his teammates later as he took James’ hand. James raised him up with so much ease, Qrow wasn’t heavy by any means but damn, James was strong.

Once he was steadily standing on his own two feet, he immediately took his hand back from James. “Look buddy, just because you’re being nice now, doesn’t mean I won’t kick your ass in the tournament.” He growled out, equal parts embarrassed and annoyed by the entire situation.

“Qrow!” Summer whispered towards him, looking exasperated. “Let me apologize for him, he isn’t great with social interactions.”

Qrow glared at her, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he looked to his sister. His sister understood, they didn’t trust easily, which meant they didn’t warm up to new people at the first meeting or really at all. She shrugged, winking at him as she turned back to eating her noodles. Taiyang stood up then and held out his hand, “Hey, James, want to sit with us? We just finished round one of dinner.”

James’ eyebrow rose, “Round one?” he asked curiously.

Summer giggled, “The boys here think that they can collectively out eat Raven and I.”

“Oh.” James looked at Qrow again, eyes roaming his face. Qrow made a point to not look directly at him. “I didn’t eat dinner yet so I suppose I could have a bowl. I’ll kindly not participate in your contest though, if that’s okay with you?” He asked, politely.

Qrow rolled his eyes, scoffed and sat down, he felt James take the seat next to him. Summer leaned around Qrow to engage James in conversation, “James, can I just say you have the most gorgeous eyes I’ve ever seen?” Qrow, embarrassed enough as he was, silently pleaded with her to not torment him like this, she patted his thigh, sympathetically but she was relentless once she got on a topic of interest. Which happened to be him at this current moment in time, just his luck. “Qrow? Don’t you like the color of his eyes?”  
His face must have turned a nice shade of red, for James spoke up, “Thank you Summer, the color of my eyes seems to be something a lot of people enjoy.”

Qrow sighed as the small talk continued, having lost his appetite after the second bowl. Taiyang working his way through the third bowl, Summer on her fourth and Raven finishing on the second bowl too which made Qrow think it was basically a twin thing even though they were fraternal not identical. “So, Jim, what year are you in?” He spoke up, for lack of anything else he could be doing.

James put his silverware done, “I’m in year four.” He responded as he took a napkin and dabbed at the corners of his mouth with a napkin.

Qrow hummed, “Upperclassman huh? Where’s the rest of your team? I saw you with a blonde chick yesterday, was she on your team?”

James sighed, “Her name is Glynda and she probably wouldn’t appreciate being referred to as a chick, but yes, she is on my team. The rest of my team is away on a mission, I’m not sure when they will be back, actually.” He frowned slightly.

Raven’s interest had been peaked, leaning forward she asked, “They didn’t send the full team?”

James nodded, “That is correct, some missions involve more discretion than others, so quite often only a few people are sent on missions. This mission happened to require two of my teammates.”

“But aren’t you participating in the tournament?” Qrow asked, leaning forward as well.

James nodded again. “Of course, it is a great honor to participate in a tournament that involves the four academies. Granted my teammates return safely, we will be honored to fight for Atlas.”

Qrow blinked, this guy was too formal, too diplomatic for his liking. “But Jim, won’t they be too tired to fight?”

James shrugged, arrogance in his voice as he responded with “It is of no matter, my team is strong, if we are required to fight in the first match or soon following, Glynda and I can make up for their shortcomings.”

‘Cocky too huh.’ Qrow thought, he smirked, “I think STRQ will beat your team, I’m looking forward to our match.”

James smiled, eyes focusing on Qrow’s eyes once more, “Likewise Qrow.” He stood up, “If you’ll excuse me, I must return to my room.” He held his hand out, Qrow stared at it before holding his hand out to grab James’. James had a strong grip, Qrow let go before he could start blushing again. He ran a hand through his hair, “Also my name is James, not Jim.” James said, with a slight smile. Qrow watched, unashamedly as James walked away. He did have a nice physique.

He must have been staring after James for too long because it was incredibly quiet behind him. He slowly turned around to see the three of them all staring at him, with matching smirks on their faces. It was Taiyang who spoke first. “Our little birdy has his first crush.”

Qrow swallowed and rubbed the back of his neck, deciding he couldn’t deal with them at this moment he turned around and walked away. He heard one of the bowls at the booth shatter but Qrow couldn’t bring himself to turn around again to see which one. He was going to go and drink before he had to deal with his team, he decided to mute his scroll for extra security. Not that that would stop them from spamming his messages with jokes, he liked them, he did, but they could be a lot. He checked a few times while he downed a drink, there was twenty messages from Summer, thirty from Taiyang and only one from Raven. That shouldn’t have surprised him, but it did, so he opened her message. All it said was, ‘You should head back to the dorm before you get lost again, you love-struck fool.’ He rolled his eyes and responded with a simple, ‘on the way.’ He paid the bartender and headed back to the academy, taking the time to marvel at the sights, Atlas really was beautiful, but the air just felt stifling. Maybe it was just Qrow not being able to relax in huge crowded cities, he preferred the open air of the country. He reached the dorms all too soon and while he did end up getting lost again, he wasn’t going to tell anyone. He entered their shared room with a sigh and locked the door behind him. Summer pounced on him before he had a chance to step forward.

“When did you meet that delicious looking man and why did you not mention him to me?” She asked, staring at him with wide silver eyes.

“I, uh…” he hesitated, unsure of how to tell her that he had been snooping and ran into the guy that first night.

“Give the man some breathing room, Summer.” Raven said from where she lay on the top bunk, book in hand.

Summer took a half step back, but he could still see her vibrating in place. She was the romantic of the group, she always had such grand notions about how romance should be. “Well? Was it when you went searching for snacks?”

Qrow rolled his eyes and sighed, “Look, I really was out looking for snacks, but I got curious and started snooping around, I ran into Ji-James in the training halls and we briefly spoke. I don’t even remember if we introduced each other but I didn’t think I had made that big of an impression on him.”

Summer frowned slightly, he could see the gears turning in her head, he stepped around her and plopped down on his bed. Taiyang spoke next, “Apparently he made an impression on you, I can see why, dude’s attractive, even I can admit that.”

Qrow groaned and threw one of his pillows at him, gravity pulling the pillow down to the floor, having not even come close to Taiyang. Raven laughed, “I never knew your type would be the stereotypical tall, dark and handsome, little brother.”

Qrow glared at them, he was not drunk enough for this.

He ran into James a lot over the next couple of days, always in passing however as James had responsibilities and duties that Qrow really couldn’t fathom having at their age. James had said he didn’t mind the work as it helped the kingdom, and it kept him busy while making him feel like he was doing something to help the greater good. Qrow enjoyed these small moments with James, for some reason they always seemed to meet when the rest of the team wasn’t around, he didn’t know if it was coincidence or not, but he was thankful for it. It was easier to handle their relentless teasing if they didn’t have new material to use. James always seemed apologetic when he had to end their conversations early due to having work to do but Qrow didn’t mind. It helped him keep from making a fool of himself, if their interactions were shorter. As it was some of the times, they ran into each other, Qrow seemed to trip over nothing, or something would fall and break in the general vicinity. Their latest run in, James hadn’t been alone, the blonde girl was with him and she had to fix the light using her semblance as Qrow had made it fall with his semblance. She seemed annoyed by the ordeal of having to fix something, but she didn’t seem to blame him and after bidding James farewell. They had been left alone, Qrow running his hand against the back of his neck, James smiling politely at him.

“So, the festival officially begins tomorrow.” Qrow spoke up after a couple of minutes of awkwardness, both staring at each other without moving.

James nodded, “Yes, I look forward to seeing how everyone fights.”

Qrow exhaled, “Is the rest of your team back yet?”

“They arrived this morning, the mission was a success. We’ll be participating, which means we might be going against STRQ at some point.” James mused.

Qrow laughed, “I look forward to taking your team down.”

James’ eyebrow rose, “Is that a challenge, Qrow?”

Qrow smirked, “I got to fight against you at some point, don’t I?”

James smiled, “I can’t wait to see you in action.”

Qrow’s ears flushed, but before either of them got a chance to process, James’ scroll went off. He sighed and answered the call. He answered with a few short words of acknowledgement and hung up the call. “Duty calls. I’ll see you tomorrow, Qrow.” He smiled, staring at him.

“Right. See you tomorrow.” Qrow answered, aware of how gruff his voice sounded.

James walked away, Qrow watched him go and not knowing how to process what had transpired, he wandered off in search of alcohol. He must’ve drunk more than he thought as he could barely walk on his way back to the academy that night. Having found the door to his dorm in his drunken haze he had been surprised to find it locked. Realizing how late it was he didn’t want to call them to open the door, so he did the next sensible thing and knocked loudly. He saw the light turn on from under the door and grinned, but the grin quickly faded when the door opened to reveal a muscular and quite a tall man. Who was not Taiyang, this explained why the door was locked, he should have known, as a rule the last one in always locked the door in their dorm. He swallowed as he realized that he had once again, very noticeably checked out James. His ears flushed as he looked up into James’ face. James, to his credit, had a look of amusement on his face, despite having been woken up so early in the morning. 

“Qrow. Would you like to come in?” James asked, politely.

Qrow blinked, come on Qrow, get it together, stop acting like a lovesick teenager. “Isn’t Glen home? Or the other two members of your team?” Qrow asked, unable to recall any of their names now, it could have been the alcohol, or it could have been the fact that he hadn’t bothered to learn their names.

James laughed, “You really struggle with names, don’t you?”

Qrow glared at him, “I remember the important ones.”

James nodded, “Glynda is actually staying at her parents’ home. She’s never been too comfortable staying with other people. As for the others, they are staying at the nurse’s, as a precautionary to make sure they didn’t strain themselves too much on the mission. So, it’s just me for now.”

Qrow nodded, “Okay, um I can come in I guess.” And he pushed past James to make himself at home.

James softly closed the door behind him, “I make you nervous, don’t I?” He asked as he sat down at the desk chair.

Qrow sat down on a bed, he wasn’t sure if it was James’ bed or not. It didn’t really matter, Qrow decided. “No, why would you think that?”

“Do I need to bring up the beginnings of dinner?” James responded, Qrow had hoped he had forgotten about that day.

Qrow sighed, to Hell with it, he decided, “Are you single?” he blurted out.

James looked at him in surprise. “Yes. I am.”

Qrow ran his hands together, he didn’t know if he should do this, but he had to know, “Are you straight?”

James looked away, he didn’t seem uncomfortable and Qrow prided himself on being perceptive despite being under the influence. “Why do you want to know?”

Qrow, using all the alcohol coursing through his veins, liver? Body? Regardless, he cut to the chase, “Look, Jim, you are hot. Like ridiculously attractive.”

James’ ears flushed, “That’s kind of you to say.” But that’s all he said, Qrow stood up fast, swaying as he did so but he caught himself. His face heated up and he mumbled, “I should go” as he all but fled from the room.

He eventually found the right room, and collapsed in his bed, allowing the rejection to hit him. At least now he could focus on the tournament and not on an attraction.

Qrow was pulled out of his memories by Taiyang’s voice saying, “Here, the tea is just slightly cool now but it’s just as good.”

Qrow sighed, “Your tea will still be tasty. It always is.” Still, he made no move to grab the tea.

“Uh oh, I know that look. You’ve had that look before. During the Vytal tournament specifically.”

Qrow glared at him, “You know, he was the only person I ever let myself feel something for.”

Taiyang smiled, “You did have a pretty big crush. But you kind of shut down on us all, and to be honest none of us knew why. That’s the look I’m referring to, you look like you’re about to shut down and let me tell you, Summer isn’t here to pull you out of it again.”

“I’m not going to shut down, gods, I’m not a computer.” Qrow rolled his eyes in response, he took the tea from Taiyang.

“Good, because let me tell you something that I couldn’t say then, not that I didn’t try but I knew you wouldn’t listen. James liked you too.”

Qrow deflated, “No. He didn’t. I told him once I found him attractive, but all he said was thanks.”

“Is that why you shut down and became kind of a bigger jerk than you could have been back then?”

Qrow nodded, “I kind of fled before both of us could process I guess, after that.”

Taiyang hummed, “No wonder he seemed just slightly hurt and confused every time he tried to talk to you, and you pushed him away.”

“Ugh, I screwed up, why do I always have to screw up everything I do?” He ran his hands through his hair and slid down the couch. “I even kicked his ass even harder than normal during the tournament, I probably hurt his feelings.”

Tai Yang patted his leg sympathetically. “You should contact him, the worst he could do is reject you again.”

Qrow groaned, “That’s what I didn’t want to happen at that damn tournament.”

“Poor lovesick little birdy.”

Qrow threw a pillow at Tai’s head, this one connecting with his face, and slunk even lower on the couch, wishing he could just disappear. “Hey, wait, when did you try to tell me he liked me back?”

Taiyang sighed, “I was kind of a tool and it might have gotten lost with all the teasing we did but I definitely tried to mention it to you. It fell on deaf ears.” Qrow groaned, in response but Taiyang continued “Well look, I’m not about to push the guy on you but you should give him another chance. I’m not thrilled about your one-night debaucheries and the stories you most likely will one day tell my daughters. It would be nice to be able to tell them that their uncle found love just like dad had, it is out there you know?” Taiyang said he tossed the pillow back at Qrow.

Qrow glared at him, “I think you’re asking for a lot right now. Your girls aren’t interested in boys… or girls just yet. A romantic story about me isn’t going to do much… it would just be a story in their heads like one of their fairy tales they read.”

“Why do you resist love?” Taiyang asked, “Raven too for that matter. It took me a few years to get her to go out with me.”

Qrow shrugged, eyes gluing themselves to the ceiling. “You know where we came from, Tai. It’s hard to break out of that.”

Taiyang took a deep breath, “I think that’s just an excuse Qrow. You may have been raised by the wrong kinds of people, but they still raised you. Meaning they obviously cared enough about you two.”

“What are you getting at Tai?” Qrow asked, sitting up on the couch.

“I’m saying you two constantly using the tribe as an excuse to not form relationships of any kind is stupid. I’ve seen you two, I know you two. You two were happiest when you let us in, Summer and I… that’s all we ever wanted, was for you and Rae to be happy. But you always pulled away and Rae started to as well, in the end.” He sounded so sad that Qrow looked up.

“I’m sorry Tai.” Qrow said, “I just can’t seem to do anything right.” He got up then, making the decision to done with the conversation, since it once again seemed to revolve around his problems, and he couldn’t handle that. ‘Damn Taiyang and his counseling techniques.’ Qrow thought, Taiyang was always pulling this crap on him lately, it was too much at times. “I’m going to go to bed, it’ll be nice to sleep in a bed for once.”

“Qrow- “Taiyang began but Qrow held up his hand.

“No Tai, I can’t have this conversation right now. Thanks for the tea.” He added as he rounded the corner to head to his room, the tea having been left untouched.

He paced around in his room for a while before he finally collapsed on the bed, he didn’t bother glancing at the time. One thing that remained a constant in this house, is that regardless of the time you really went to bed, there was always something that acted as your alarm clock. In the beginning that had been Raven, who would slam the door open or shout from the kitchen that breakfast was ready every time he stayed there, then for a brief time it was Yang, stumbling into his room with tears in her eyes, having woken up from a nightmare or not being able to sleep at all. Qrow knew why, Yang had had a difficult time processing the fact that her mother left. After Summer moved in, it had been a blessing, she breathed life back into the place, she couldn’t cook though, it was her one weakness. But she still went to everybody’s rooms to wake them up and unlike Raven, she literally launched herself on top of him to wake him up every day. Now that she was gone, the three that remained acted as the morning wake up calls. 

“Uncle Qrow!” Ruby shouted as she jumped on top of Qrow, successfully awakening him from his sleep.

Qrow blinked several times, willing the breath to return to his lungs, upon proving difficult, he gently grabbed Ruby and slid her off his chest. ‘How much like Summer was she going to get?’ he thought, “Mornin’ kiddo.” He said with slight exasperation and amusement in his voice.

Ruby grinned, “Are you staying with us for a while this time?” She asked with so much hope in her voice.

He winced, “Kind of, I guess I’m living here now but I still have missions to go on, so I won’t be around a lot.” He could keep his semblance away from them that way.  
Ruby frowned, “Aw, I was hoping you could stay and not leave…” she pouted for like half a second before grinning again, “Can you show my Habringer?”

Qrow laughed, “Harbinger, pipsqueak, not Habringer.”

Ruby rolled her eyes and hopped off the bed, “I want to see HARbinger.” She raised her voice for part of her pronunciation, before searching the room for his weapon.

Qrow watched, amusement clear on his face, as he watched her pass Harbinger three times. He whistled, “I’ll give you a hint, Harbinger has a red hilt.”

She tilted her head to the side, before spotting Harbinger leaning inconspicuously on the side of the bed. Easier for Qrow to grab that way, it also helped to hide his weapon in between the nightstand and the bed, so curious little kids couldn’t get hurt by it. “Found it!” She attempted to pounce on it but Qrow caught her.

“Woah there, munchkin, the blade is sharp and heavy. I’ll show you outside after breakfast, promise.” Qrow said as he placed her on the floor.

Ruby smiled, “Okay! I’m going to go and wake up Yang again!” She ran out of the room.

Qrow rolled his eyes with fondness, he stretched and got up, before heading to the bathroom to take a shower.

After he had gotten ready, physically and mentally, he headed into the kitchen. Where Ruby was at Yang’s side chattering almost nonstop in her ear. Yang looked at him as he entered, silently pleading with him to take Ruby from her. He smirked and strode past them to help Taiyang with breakfast.

Taiyang smiled at him, “I only dropped one plate this morning.” He said with that playful tone he always had. Qrow knew it was his attempt at mending how last night ended.  
It has been a running joke in team STRQ, an effort to lighten his mood when something unfortunate happened, to start a running tab of how many things broke or went missing. Qrow rolled his eyes, “I hate you.” He whispered, lest his children overhear and think he was serious.

Taiyang burst out laughing, “I’m kidding, nothing broke as of yet.” He gave Qrow a mischievous smirk that didn’t reach his eyes, his eyes were cautious.

Qrow sighed, “I’m not mad Tai, don’t worry.” He took over making scrambled eggs so Taiyang could prepare the pancake mix.

Taiyang exhaled, “Good, you know you are like my younger brother, right? I worry about you.”

Qrow made a face, “Do you know how weird that is, you married my sister, who would be your sister if I’m like your younger brother.” He shuddered, “So gross man.”

Taiyang snorted, “You became my brother the day she married me, Qrow. But you’ll always be my best friend.”

Qrow groaned, “Ugh, you are so sappy so early in the morning.” He took the pan off the stove and went to put some eggs on everyone’s plates. Grabbing the milk carton from Ruby on his way back, he just had a feeling it was going to spill.

Taiyang grabbed the pan from Qrow, quickly wiped dried eggs out of it before spraying it down and using it to make pancakes.

Qrow put the milk away and grabbed the orange juice instead. “Pipsqueak, you sure you don’t want orange juice instead of milk?”

Ruby made a face, “I want to be tall like Yang, milk will make me grow.”

“I’ll take some juice, Uncle Qrow” Yang said, as Ruby drank half a glass of milk in one go.

Qrow nodded and poured three glasses of orange juice, one for him, one for Yang and one for Taiyang. “I can’t believe you still refuse to have coffee in this house.” He said loudly over his should to Taiyang.

Taiyang shrugged, “coffee makes you hyper, and it makes me tired. I’ve long since learned to keep coffee as far away as I can.”

“It does not make me hyper.” Qrow stated as he sat down.

Taiyang laughed, “You want to run that by me again? I definitely remember watching you down two mugs of coffee right before a huge test and you practically vibrating in your chair with your pen flying across the paper in third year.”

“I was trying a different form of drinking.” He stated, and it was true, there was a brief time in his academy days that he gave up alcohol and tried and failed miserably, but what else is new there, to find a replacement drink, a healthier one. Coffee had him burning all his energy in three hours before crashing for eight hours, which was not ideal during a mission but handy in fully waking him up in the morning. The only person on team STRQ who had been a morning person at the time was Summer. He even tried sparkling water, which gave him caffeine but in less amounts. Nothing seemed to be a good replacement and the brief amount of happiness he had gained in the couple of months of sobriety ended when his semblance caused Taiyang to break his leg during a mission but it had given Raven a chance to take care of Taiyang so not all bad all things considered.

Taiyang shrugged, “So you thought to try coffee?”

“Coffee is good, Tai.” And it was true, he enjoyed it on occasion. “But I’ll settle for orange juice, it has vitamin C.” He said that part for Ruby and Yang’s ears.

“Orange juice doesn’t help you grow though Uncle Qrow.” Ruby responded but Yang had agreed with him that orange juice was important.

They finished breakfast and before Qrow could help Taiyang clean up, Ruby had grabbed Qrow’s hand and was dragging him outside. “Alright, munchkin, alright. I’ll show you, just stand back okay.”

Ruby took a small step back. “Further than that.” She took another step back. Qrow rolled his eyes. “Go stand by the shed.” The shed was a couple of feet back and should be a safe distance away. She obliged and ran to the shed, turning around to watch in amazement as Qrow took his weapon off his back, unlatching it so the sword started to extend and contort, forming a perfect rounded edge. The hilt extended next, making it almost as tall as Qrow was. He stuck the end of the hilt into the ground and leaned against his scythe. 

“Wow!” Ruby said running closer to get a better look.

Qrow saw the block of wood that was somehow in the middle of her path, laying innocently on the ground, he looked around and saw the wood pile next to the shed. ‘shit.’ Qrow thought before Ruby tripped over the log and fell, thankfully not injured. He put his weapon away in any case before running over to Ruby. “You okay, kiddo?”

Ruby sat up, rubbed at her ankle with tears in her eyes but she was smiling. “That was really cool uncle Qrow!” She tried to stand up, but she quickly sat back down again. “I’d love for you to see my designs!”

Qrow nodded, “let me help you inside, your dad will want to take a look at that ankle.” He picked her up and carried her inside. Setting her down on the couch and moving to grab Tai who had been washing the dishes. “Tai.” Qrow said to Tai’s back.

Taiyang turned around, “What is it?” he asked, upon hearing the tone of his voice and seeing his face.

“Ruby tripped, I don’t think she broke anything, but she wouldn’t put pressure on her ankle.” Qrow said, mind already retreating to the negative thoughts. ‘his fault. He shouldn’t be here.’ He thought.

Taiyang went over to the freezer and grabbed an ice pack, “Stop with that face. I know that face all too well. It wasn’t your fault. She’s a kid, and she has a habit of not looking where she’s going.”

Qrow sighed, “I let my guard down, I didn’t check my surroundings.”

“Qrow, seriously stop it. Not everything is your fault. You acted like this when I broke my leg, when Raven left, when Summer disappeared. I can’t have you going off the deep end over my daughter spraining her ankle too. For one thing, my aura had run out and I got in the way, Raven made her own decision and for that matter so did Summer. None of that was on you, Qrow.” Tai Yang moved past him to check on his daughter. Leaving Qrow to his thoughts, ‘Why was it so hard for him to accept what everyone always told him?’ he ran a hand through his hair and left through the back door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I'm still staying true to the characters but if at any point I'm not, someone please let me know so I can correct the mistakes! I'm trying really hard to keep everyone as in character as I possibly can.

**Author's Note:**

> There really isn't much to say about this first chapter, besides that it's so short, it's just setting up the premise of the story from the point of view of Qrow Branwen, who I really believed would have tried his hardest to get Raven to at least see her daughter. He has long since given up, trying instead to not really mention Raven around Yang, which has probably put a strain in their relationship. I also really wanted a reason to include Raven in my story, she may or may not appear in the present again but I love her and needed her here. I'd like to think Qrow would have wanted her here too.


End file.
